Raptor Closure:​Shirt T​ail Peak is CLOSED to all activities, including rock climbing, effective immediately to protect Golden Eagles nesting in the area. The closure is federally mandated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Description

The route is the dihedral to the center of the diamond-shaped roof of the Whale's Tail, just left of C'est What? The route traverses out right under the roof to finish up on top, which is super steep and exciting. In term of LEADING routes, this is my most frequented route in Eldo. I've done it about a dozen times and I still enjoy it at the end of a day when not much time is left. Plus, it never has a queue! One must be SOLID at the grade.

Protection

The pro is sparse and somewhat poor. There is a dangerous runout to just below the roof (to a stopper, 2.5" cam, and a fixed pin), and then only so-so pro at the corner below the roof or beyond. The roof is "big" crimpers for fingers and poor feet. If one falls from the roof and the gear holds, they will likely get a solid pounding in the dihedral. If the gear does not hold... ???

I'd reiterate what Tony says about the runout up to the roof--rated 5.8+ s in Rossiter, but really there is potential for a very serious injury, with a horrible landing. The gear is practically non-existent--don't get lured into it thinking you'll find a decent RP in a move or two.

The gear IS thin getting to the roof/traverse, but its not all that bad considering the small cams that are available nowadays, and the climbing is straightforward 7 with a move or two of 8. Here is the gear, (all of which I feel was good) that I got in before reaching the fixed pin located about 12 feet before the roof/traverse starts:

(Sorry for the color description rather than number. I have no idea what numbers my gear corresponds to).

And then of course you can clip the pin. Actually, I girth hitched the pin's eyebolt with a long sling. This is pretty much always what I do to Eldo pins, assuming I have the strength to take the extra time to thread the sling rather than just clip the pin. Less metal-on-metal contact is a good thing I think. Does anyone else do this? I digress... Move up to the start of the traverse where you'll have good holds and a rest before getting to the business.

At the start of the traverse I got in a nut and a blue Metolius TCU. Make a few moves out right where you can drop in a medium sized nut. Another move or two on positive hands and thin feet lets you reach a great hold from which to place a good nut. A few more moves and you are at the top. I placed a blue Camalot here for the second.

The climbing is fun, and though the initial slab does warrant an S rating, with the cams available these days its not too bad. Granted, I did not have any intentions on falling on a tiny cam held together by piano wires, but its nice to see that eye candy in the rock.

The traverse has great hand holds but thin feet,. Like many Eldo cruxes, just keep moving and you'll get a good rest soon.

Tony, I do think it warrants an S, but its less severe than if I had led this 5 or 10 years ago before such small cams were around. The tiny cams were good, but I don't like falling in general, much less onto the smallest pieces on my rack. The original comment that one must be solid at this grade is good advice.JGH

I've been intrigued by both Jack the Ripper and C'est What? for years, but was always scared off due to the sparse pro. However, it doesn't have to be that way. After an exploratory search today, I found it's relatively simple to set up a toprope anchor by climbing just a bit higher (10 feet, on easy 5.0 rock) above the cable anchor for West Crack. So, after it was all said and done, I still don't think I would lead them, but we had a blast...and I didn't break my wrist...(which would've really pissed off my wife).

If you're considering leading this, expect to not have any gear or at least any that would hold a fall for the first 40' or so. After that, you can probably get 2 or 3 good pieces, but the rest are marginal. You better be solid and should probably be able to lead 5.10.

True, no gear the first 40-50 feet, 8-8+ but the moves are all solid, after that I felt the gear was more then enough to protect the rest of the climb, I used a #2 Lowe Ball at the start of the roof and a #5 stopper a move or two up from there (3/4 of the way up the roof), you can then pull out of the roof safely, even if you where to fall, the gear would definitely hold. If you fall at the start, the first 40 feet, it's over.

Led this today. I was able to get what I thought was a very solid #4RP about waist height just prior to making the initial committing move into the shallow, R-facing dihedral, then a #3? Peanut in an initially blind placement a few feet higher (still before I made the initial move).

The interesting part about the RP placement is that I didn't see it until after I had been up and down a few times placing gear higher, and trying to get marginal gear lower - it's oddly easy to miss, but obvious once you see it (look closely from the ground - it's a slot in the corner right by the 2" triangular foothold on the little arete).

I then got the Yellow Zero placement JGH mentioned maybe 8 ft higher, and a bomber #1 tricam and 0.75 Camalot (with a double-length sling) prior to traversing out onto the slab below the pin. Then sunk a #2 Camalot and #7? stopper below the pin (with a double-length sling) clipped the pin and moved up into the corner.

I was then able to get a #4 DMM stopper (horizontally behind the first jug as you start the traverse), a #5 DMM (stretching up with feet on the 1.5" ledge) above the next jug, and a #3? DMM a few feet right of that (really hard to hang on here). I pumped out trying to figure out this gear and hung once on the #5 (much to the chagrin of my second). With this gear, I never felt seriously at risk the entire time. Very fun climb.

I thought the middle section of the roof-traverse was harder than 9+, but maybe that was due to hanging out figuring out this gear. I'm not real strong either, and the traverse seemed very strenuous.

The start of the climb, while only 5.8, is completely run-out and not entirely obvious. The crux may very well be at the old piton in the corner below the roof. There was once a pin at the beginning of the traverse in the roof; it fell out about 10 years ago, making the locks a little insecure. Overall, an honest rating must include an "R" (or "S" or whatever is in vogue for 'runout' these days).

One of the oddities in the database is that if you don't add a comment or you weren't the original submitter, you will only get the difficulty rating listed next to your name without the danger rating included. This is an X-rated or VS-rated climb. Consider yourself soloing until the roof.

I agree with Leo. If this route doesn't get an X rating then I don't know what does. Last I checked the definition of an X-rated climb is one on which a fall risks severe injury or death. The first 40' of JTR clearly meets that definition.

I carefully downclimbed this thing from the lower crux after having placed two VERY marginal RPs (because I was too afraid to body-weight the RP for a lower). I can't imagine where previous posters were getting in cams--I certainly don't have any that small on my rack and even if I did, I wouldn't trust them to body weight let alone a fall. The crux was relatively easy (I TR'd the thing later), but I wasn't willing to risk my life committing to it on lead.

It only deserves an "R", nothing more. Don't inflate the "X" rating, or it'll do you no good in the future.

The first section is comprised on completely obvious climbing on positive holds that is substantially easier than the crux rating. And I'm pretty much a slacker these days. Plus I found a reliable microcam placement in that first section. A bomber #3 or #4 rock along the traverse, added with a slung horn and a #1 Alien makes the whole thing quite manageable. Anything more reminisces of a B-grade movie.

Since when does "obvious climbing" and "positive holds" negate the X rating? The X rating is based on possible consequences if you fall and if you for some reason blew it on the first part of this route, then you're going to get jacked up for sure.